ARID AGRICULTURE. 225 



sown as i\ catch crop, with the corn the first of 

 July, <>r plant- M! on other land and drilled or 

 broadcasted. Fse two to four pounds of seed 

 per acre, and keep the ground as moist as pos : 

 >ihle without making it too wet. The best vari- 

 eties are the White eii'ii 1 and Golden ball, for our 

 higher altitudes, Purple tops, and Swedes, 01 

 Rutabagas for general planting. 



Mangels are the easiest beets to grow. They 

 do not require thinning and special culture re- 

 quired by sugar beets. Mangels contain so much 

 water and so little dry matter that they are one 

 of the poorest root crops for feed. However > 

 they produce large yields, and are worth while in 

 many localities. The half sugar mangels are 

 the best form of stock beets to grow. They 

 contain enough sugar to make their feeding 

 value higher than the mangel. Of mangels 

 or half sugar beets, use eight to twelve pounds of 

 -eed per acre, and sow in drills two and one-half 

 to three feet apart. They may be irrigated and 

 cultivated like the sugar beet. 



PASTURING A method of harvesting root crops which has 



long been in vogue in England is becoming pop- 

 ular in the West. This is to pasture them with 

 sheep or hogs. The English fanner uses hur- 

 dles, pasturing small areas at a time. After the 

 animals eat the tops of the roots down into the 

 "round as far as they can reach, the farmer pulls 

 out the lower parts of the roots with an iron hook 



